Joys and Concerns

How To Reach Us

January 2014

posted Dec 30, 2013, 9:13 PM by Mona Meyer

Welcome to 2014. It's a New Year and as always, a chance to make a new start. We are drawn to set goals at this time and to vow to change (in good ways) some of what our life is about. And that is a good thing if done in moderation! I've been hearing advice on the radio about how to set a reasonable New Year's Resolution and all the advice contains that 'moderation' clause. It's so easy to decide to lose 20 or 50 pounds, but so very hard to do so. It's easy to decide to workout 5 times a week, but unrealistic to go from 'never' to almost daily. It's so easy to decide to get organized or to clean out the garage -- and much harder to figure out when to fit it into our schedule. And that's to say nothing about the fact that most of us don't look forward to the processes involved in achieving any of those things. Unless, of course, we're already doing them -- in which case a resolution isn't necessary.

What if, instead, we looked at what is going well in our life and decided to increase it just a bit? What if we decided, because we like vegetables, to eat a few more each week? Or we vowed to find a class once a week that we really would enjoy (that could be how to increase the exercise in your life -- take up line dancing like I did this Fall, or start a gentle yoga class). Once a week is probably more realistic, right? Or maybe we could vow to clean up one corner of the garage, organize our spice drawer, or sort through the income tax papers a few weeks (days?) earlier this year. All of those are either things we are already doing somewhat, could possibly even look forward to, or at least something we could achieve without turning our life upside down.

And what if we made a resolution to appreciate the things we already do well -- those things we don't need to change at all. We could look at our lives from the position of strength and success, rather than weakness and failure! Now that would make a resolution worth considering. Hopefully you know some of those wonderful things on your own, but if you are stymied, ask a trusted friend to help you make a list! I believe that you will find you have far more strengths than weakness and it just might inspire you! Even if not, life will look better from that perspective.